Running to wins was Rockets’ plan all along

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CHICAGO — There seemed to be no way Rockets owner Leslie Alexander could know how his team would play, given that at the time, he had almost no idea who would be on the team.

But Alexander was determined and in a position to expect to get his way. Last season had barely ended when he said the Rockets of this season would run. He could not name them, but he was certain that whoever wore his uniforms and received paychecks with his name on them would play faster than his teams ever had.

Reminded that he had made such proclamations for years, Alexander made it clear this time the topic was not up for discussion.

“Oh, we will run,” he said with a tone that sounded much more like an edict from the corner office than a prediction.

Through 26 games and nearly as many roster moves, the Rockets run more than any team in the NBA, winning more often than Alexander expected when they do and standing little chance when they do not. They did not shape the roster to fit the owner’s wishes, choosing to go with the NBA’s youngest team for other reasons, but that has made it even more imperative that they do what the boss wanted.

“I definitely wanted this team to run,” Alexander said. “I think running is the future of this league. I’ve thought so for many years. When we hired Kevin (McHale in June 2011), he was on board, and I knew he was ready to do it. I don’t think personnel matters. I think anybody can run if they buy into it, and this team has bought into it.”

Alexander has preferred this style for so long that general manager Daryl Morey said, “I think it’s been Mr. Alexander’s vision since 1994.”

The championship-era Rockets were much more halfcourt-oriented, with Alexander’s blessing. Jeff Van Gundy’s teams, built around Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, ran only when they had numbers.

But with rule changes and improving defenses, Alexander believed few teams would succeed offensively without an up-tempo style and then watched the Spurs evolve into a fast-paced team to prove the theory.

Pressure defenses

“Defenses have gotten so good and teams prepare so well for each other that if you are just going to go down the court and set up, they’re going to stop you at some point,” Alexander said. “If you don’t have the absolute best personnel on the floor, you’re going to lose. If you run, you’re going to get easy baskets. The other team gets tired. They give up after a while. Your team is in such better shape because it runs. There is so much a team can do that way.”

McHale has preached the value of playing with pace since last season ended, especially when the Rockets were retooled around young players ill-suited for a slowdown game. But since Yao’s retirement in 2011, the Rockets have been as determined to rebuild around foundation stars and would jump at a chance to land an elite player regardless.

Elite player sought

“We would definitely take an elite halfcourt player,” Morey said. “I can’t name players, but a lot of elite players are better in the half court, and we would for sure take them. We would still want to be opportunistically running; we just wouldn’t be as up-tempo.”

But Alexander said now that the Rockets have stomped on the accelerator, he won’t back off.

“We’re not changing our team for anybody,” Alexander said. “We’re going to run for the next 10 years. We’re going to run forever. We’re going to run. I don’t care who the personnel is — we’re going to run.”

Running a must

For now, the Rockets run because they must. When they replaced veterans with players who almost without exception are in their first, second or third seasons, the Rockets believed they could not execute well enough to consistently run a halfcourt offense.

They instead looked to play with tempo and to move the ball in the halfcourt with a style similar to when teams are on the break, rarely posting up and spreading the floor to try to move the ball quickly to open shooters or into a pick-and-roll.

“Part of it was you look at the personnel and where we’re at with the youth,” McHale said. “To play execution basketball, it’s counters; it’s so much experience and seeing things. The offense we run is a little different than a lot of NBA offenses. It’s read, react and push. Guys get a lot of freedom. Inside that freedom, when we’re moving the ball well, it looks pretty good. There’s times it gets sticky.”

There have been times, McHale said, when the Rockets have gotten “amnesia” and fallen into a more traditional style. The opponents this week — Chicago, Minnesota, San Antonio and Oklahoma City — will be difficult to run against and excel at keeping the ball stuck on the strong side.

“It’s going to be a good litmus test for us,” McHale said. “We have to try to impose our style, which has to be stops and go.”

Tops in possessions

The Rockets lead the NBA in possessions per game, averaging between 96.4 and 98.99, depending on the formula used.

They are second in fast-break points at 17.8 per game.

But the Rockets measure their pace differently. Morey’s staff evaluates the number of possessions in which each team gets a good shot before the opposing defense is set. NBA teams get good shots, as determined by the Rockets’ evaluations, on an average of 40 percent of their possessions.

The Bulls, whom the Rockets face Tuesday night in a clash of styles, run on just 30 percent of their possessions, based on the Rockets’ measures.

Efficient scoring

The Rockets work a break or early offense to good shots on 51 percent of their possessions, averaging the most up-tempo possessions and largest percentage of up-tempo possessions in the NBA. They lead the league in scoring, averaging 105.4 points per game. Factoring in their pace, they rank seventh in offensive efficiency.

“If we weren’t playing at that pace, our offense would be bottom 10,” Morey said. “Right now, it’s top 10. With our past teams, it was more challenging to play up-tempo — with Yao Ming especially. Now, we’re tailor-made. Guys are good in the open floor. We can wear a lot of teams down. Frankly, a lot of our guys aren’t that strong in the halfcourt. Everything aligned to execute Mr. Alexander’s vision this year.

“Even when we had Yao Ming, he wanted us to opportunistically run more.

“You can argue who the best coach in the league is, but most people would have (San Antonio’s) Gregg Popovich either No. 1 or in the top three. Even he has found, even with Tim Duncan and an older roster, you have to opportunistically run the floor.”

The Spurs average the second-most possessions per game but also excel in the halfcourt. To grow into a championship contender, the Rockets believe they need to upgrade the roster, and those kinds of players would likely be suited to some more traditional halfcourt offenses.

But the Rockets also believe a running team can be a title team.

“I 100 percent believe we can,” Morey said. “The first thing we’re doing is to make sure we add the best players possible. The second thing is to fit our style of play into those top players and the people we put around them. Those Phoenix teams, I thought, could easily have won the title. They came close. There was no reason they couldn’t have won those series and the title.”

Just win, baby
Besides, the boss has made his preference clear, with Alexander not only certain he would rather watch a team play at high speed but that it works.